Sermon Notes for July 16

LUTHERAN CONFIDENTIAL: Wittenberg, Germany in the summer of 1515. Two years before the 95 Theses are written, a young monk and professor begins his lectures on the letter of St. Paul to the Romans. Martin Luther had wrestled with his inner demons and this opened his eyes to see the Christian life in a new way. Before there was a Reformation in the world, there was a re-formation of the heart!

FILE 3 - "Children of God"

In his Romans lectures, Luther writes: "...faith expands the heart, the emotions, and the voice, but fear tightens up all these things and restricts them, as our own experience amply testifies. Fear does not say Abba, but rather it hates and flees from the Father as from an enemy and mutters against Him as a tyrant." 

What truth did Luther uncover about the Holy Spirit and how did it help him when people were pushing his reforms too far? The answer helps us to live courageously and freely as children of God, today.